Father’s Day 2016

This was my Father’s Day highlight… working with an inconsolable Arlo to build a device capable of retrieving his “laser” from the toilet.

Linette was in Florida this past weekend, and I just hung out with the kids. We ran around the sprinkler, hung out at the local pool, cooked out with neighbors, and stayed up late watching science fiction movies and eating nachos. I know, as a father, I’m supposed to say that the best Father’s Day present would be just a little peace and quiet, but I genuinely enjoyed the chaos these past few days with the kids, even with the inevitable sweaty melt-downs that come along with the first 90-degree temperatures of the year.

The photo above took place earlier this morning, as I was waiting patiently for the kids to remember that it was Father’s Day. [As it turns out, they wouldn’t remember until almost noon, when someone on the street wished me a “Happy Father’s Day,” at which point they assured me that they’d intended to make me a card or something.] I’m not sure what Arlo had been doing with his little blue LED light, which he calls his “laser,” in the toilet, but apparently he dropped it in. After a few minutes of screaming, we went outside to walk around the block, calm down, and devise a plan. We ultimately decided to tie some twigs together with twine, creating a kind of tiny basket, which we then lowered into the toilet to retrieve the laser. It wasn’t as much fun as taking Clementine and her 6th grade friends out for ice cream after their last day of school, like I got to do on Friday evening, but it was kind of lovely in its own way, working together to find a way to get something out of the toilet without using our hands, and then dousing it with rubbing alcohol to kill the “poop germs.”

I suggest going to either GFS to get a box of food service gloves or the auto store to get a box of sized nitrile gloves. They are all disposable to accommodate germaphobia, and handy for many things. I use them whenever I work under the hood of my car. No more grimy fingernails or greasy residue in sinks.